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ADVANCE SHEETS OF 



LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ACTIVITIES 



IN 



NORTH CAROLINA, 1900-1905. 




Parts Relating to the First English Settlement in America 
and the Proposed Memorials thereof. 



ilnooujiiji^. 



ADVANCE SHEETS 



LITEH/f[YANDHISTO{|lC/L>C™^^^^ 



NORTH CAROLINA 



Since undertaking this publication it has been decided to enlarge 
its scope and change its subject matter to a considerable extent 
and therefore it has been thought best to issue what is already 
printed in the form of advanced sheets and issue the complete 
volume contemplated a little later. 



HISTOftlCAL AND LITERA[[Y ACTIVITIES 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



1900-1905. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION 

Volume I. 

\V J PKELE. Chmrman J. D. HUFFHAM, 

H. [) VV. (X)NNOll, Secretary, RICHARD DILLARD, 

F. A. SONDLEY. 



OOMPILEO BY 

W. J. PEELE arid CLARENCE H. POE. 



GOLDS BORO : 

NASH BROS., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 

1904. 






Girt 

Author 

17 '06 



SIR WALTER RALEIQH. 



1. Poem Read by Prof. Henry Jerome Stockard at Second Annual Meeting 
OF THE State Literary and Historical Association, October 33, 1901. 



He is not greatest who with pick and spade 
Makes excavations for some splendid fane; 
Nor he who lays with trowel, plumb, and line 
Upon the eternal rock its base of stone: 
Nor is he greatest who lifts slow its walls, 
Flutes its white pillars, runs its architrave 
And frieze and cornice, sets its pictured panes, 
And points its airy minarets with gold: 
Nor he who peoples angle, niche, and aisle 
With sculptured angels, and with symbol graves 
Column and arch and nave-and gallery: 
These are but del vers, masons, artisans. 
Each working out his part of that vast plan 
Projected in the master builder's brain. 

And he who wakes the organ's soulful tones, 

Faint, far away, like those tliat haply steal — 

The first notes of the song of the redeemed — 

From out the spirit- world to dying ears; 

Or rouses it in lamentations wild 

Of Calvary, or moves its inmost deeps 

With sobs aud cryings unassuaged that touch 

The heart to tears for unforgiven sin, — 

He voices but the echo of that hymn 

Whose surges shook the great composer's soul. 

Bold admirals of the vast high seas of dream. 
With neither chart nor azimuth nor star, 
That push your prows into the mighty trades 
And ocean streams towards continents unknown: 
Brave pioneers that slowly blaze your way 
And set your cairns for people yet unborn 
Upon imagination's dim frontiers, 
Ye are the makers, rulers of the world ! 

And so this splendid land to sunward laid. 
With opulent fields and many a winding stream 
And virgin wood: with stores of gems and veins 
Of richest ore: with mills and thronging marts, 



26 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

The domain of tlie freest of the free — 
'Tis but the substance of his dream, the pure, 
The true, the generous knight who raarlced its bounds 
AVith Hberal hand by interfusing seas. 

What though no sage may read the riddle dark 

Of Croatan, that band diffused through marsh 

And solitude? Their valor did not die. 

But is incorporate in our civic life. 

They were of those that fought at Bannockburn; 

Their vital spirits spake at Mecklenburg; 

They rose at Alamance, at Bethel led, 

And steered at Cardenas straight through blinding shells. 

They live to-day and shall forever live, 

Lifting mankind toward freedom and toward God. 

And he still lives, the courteous and the brave, 

Whose life went out in seeming dark defeat. 

The Tower held not his princely spirit immured; 

But in those narrow dungeon walls he trod 

Kingdoms unlimited by earthly zones; 

Nor holds the grave his peerless soul in thrall; 

It passed those dismal portals unafraid 

To an inheritance beyond decay 

Stored in the love and gratitude of man. 

He lives in this fair city, noble state. 

Puissant land — in all each hopes to be. 

He was the impulse to these later deeds. 

He lives in fateful words and splendid dreams. 

In strenuous actions and in high careers. 

An inspiration unto loftier things 

Upon the scheme of ages, man siiall find 
Success oft failure, failure oft success 
When he shall read the record of the years. 



on ROAfiOF\E ISLAND. 



Address of JUDGE WALTER CLARK at Meeting Inaugurated 

BY THE State Literary and Historical Association, 

Manteo, N. C, 24, July 1902. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : Standing on the Aventine hill, 
by the banks of the Tiber, we can still behold the cradle of the 
great Roman people, the beginning of that imperial race 
which for centuries held in its control the entire civilized 
world of their day and whose laws, whose feats of arms, whose 
thought, have profoundly impressed all succeeding ages. 

HERE BEGAN THE GREATEST MOVEMENT OF THE AGES. 

Standing here we see the spot where first began on this 
continent the great race which in the jSTew World in three 
hundred years has far surpassed in extent of dominion, in 
population and power the greatest race known to the Old. 
Farther than the imperial eagles ever flew, over more men 
than its dominion ever swayed, with wealth which dwarfs its 
boasted treasures, and intelligence and capacity unknown to 
its rulers, this new race in three centuries has covered a con- 
tinent, crossed great rivers, built great cities, tunneled moun- 
tains, traversed great plains, scaled mountain ranges and halt- 
ing but for a moment on the shores of a vaster ocean, has al- 
ready annexed a thousand islands and faces the shores of a 
Western continent so distant that we call it the East. 

We do well to come here to visit the spot where this great 
movement began. It was one of the great epochs of all history. 
Here, 36 years before the landing of the Pilgrims at Ply- 
mouth Rock, here 23 years before John Smith and James- 
town, in the year 1584, the first English keel grated on the 
shores of what is now the United States. Here the greatest 
movement of the ages began, which has completed the circuit 
of the globe. For thousands of years, God in His wisdom, 
had hidden this land behind the billows till His appointed 
time, and in Europe and Asia millions had fought and perish- 



28 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

ed for the possession of narrow lands. The human intellect 
had been dwarfed with the dimensions of its prison house. 
In due season Copernicus gauged the heavens, revealing count- 
less worlds beyond our grasp and Columbus almost at the 
same time unveiled this tangible world beyond the Atlantic. 
Stunned, dazed, the mind of man slowly realized the broad- 
ened vision unrolled before it. Since then the energies of 
the human intellect have steadily expanded, and thought has 
widened with the process of every sun. 

Here broke the spray of the first wave of Saxon population 
and now westward across the continent to the utmost verge 
and beyond it, there rolls a human sea. Three centuries have 
done this. 

About this very date Amadas and Barlow landed here, for 
on July 4, a day doubly memorable on these shores, they de- 
scried land and sailing up the coast 120 miles they entered 
with their two small vessels through an inlet, probably now 
closed. Proceeding further they came abreast of this island, 
where they landed and were hospitably received. 

WHAT WONDROUS CHANGES. 

Nature remains unaltered. As on that July day, of the 
long ago, earth, air and sky and sea remain the same. The 
same blue arch bends above us. The same restless ocean rolls. 
The same sun shines brightly down. The same balmy breezes 
breathe soft and low. The same headlands jut out to meet 
the waves. The same bays lie open to shelter the coming ves- 
sels. The trees, the foliage, the landmarks, would all be recog- 
nized by the sea-worn Avandercrs of that memorable day. 
But as to what is due to man, how altered ! 

To the westward, where the Indian paddled his light canoe 
on great rivers, innumerable vessels, moved by the energies 
of steam, plow the waters, freighte<i with the produce of ev- 
ery industry and the produce of evorv clime. Where the 
smoke of the lonely wigwam rose, now the roar of great cities 
fills the ear and the blaze of electric lights reddens the sky. 
Where then amid vast solitudes the war-A\h()0]) resounded, 
boding death and torture, now rise a thousand steeples and 
anthems to the Prince of Peace float upon the air. Where 
the plumed and painted warrior stealthily trod the narrow 



On Roanoke Island. 29 

war path, mighty engines rush. Where a few thousand 
naked savages miserably starved and fought and perished, 
near one hundred millions of the foremost people of all the 
world live and prosper. Three short centuries have seen this 
done. 

OUK CONTKIBUTION TO EUROPE. 

Looking eastward the ocean rolls unchanged, but not as 
then to be crossed only after two or three months of voyage. 
Already a week suffices for its passage and across its waves 
even now messages flash without the medium of wires. Be- 
yond its shores is also a new world. AVhen the first expedi- 
tion landed here, the Turk was threatening Vienna, and the 
Spaniard was asserting his right to burn and pillage in Hol- 
land. The fires of the Inquisition burned in Spain and Bel- 
gium. France, sunk to a second-class power, grovelled be- 
neath the rule of one of the most worthless of its many worth- 
less kings, the third Henry — while England, the England of 
Drake and Raleigh, of Shakespeare and Bacon, and of Eliza- 
beth, already lay beneath the growing shadow of the Armada, 
whose success threatened the extinction of English liberty 
and of the Protestant religion. Russia was then a small col- 
lection of barbarous tribes and Germany and Italy, not yet 
nations, were mere geographical expressions. Contrast that 
with the Europe of to-day. The change is barely less start- 
ling there than on this side of the water. 

The change has been greatly the reflex action from this 
side. Civilization has been and is on the steady increase in 
the betterment of the masses. The leaders of thought, Shake- 
speare, Bacon, Michael Angelo, Dante, Petrarch, the painters, 
the sculptors, the statesmen, were as great then as since. The 
difference is in the masses. Then they were degraded, dis- 
regarded, beaten with many stripes, dying like animals after 
living like brutes ; to-day they have a voice in every govern- 
ment and are beginning more fully to perceive that they have 
unlimited powder which they can use for their own advance- 
ment and the betterment of their material surroundings. 

The change started here when a new race began, without 
feudal burdens and amid the breadth and freedom of un- 
trammeled nature. With new paths to tread, new roads to 



30 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

make, new rivers to travel, new cities to bnild, men hegan to 
think new thoughts and to add t<> the freedom of nature the 
liberty of speech and of action. 

WHERE the shackles OF THE AGES WERE BROKEN. 

\\e\] do we come liere to visit the spot where the shackles 
of the ages were broken, pr(>cedents forgotten and where man 
first began to stand upright in the likeness in which God had 
made him. 

Js^aught tells more forcibly the depression in which the 
minds of the men of that day were held than the fact that the 
hardy English mariners, the descendants of the Vikings of 
old, delayed nearly a century after Columbus had discovered 
the Xew World before the foot of an Anglo-Saxon had trod 
the shores of ISTorth America. From the discovery in 1492 
to the first landing here in 1584 and the first permanent but 
feeble settlement at Jamestown in 1607 was a long time. 
Could another new continent such as this be discovered in 
3,000 miles of London to-day, not as many hours would elapse 
as our ancestors of three centuries ago permitted years to pass, 
before the English race would land on its shores. In 1520 
Cortez led the Spaniards to the Plateau of Mexico and sub- 
verted an empire. Yet 65 years more passed before Amadas 
and Barlow led the first English expedition to land on this 
continent. 

Not only were men's minds enthralled b}^ governments 
which existed solely for the benefit of the few, but the condi- 
tion of the upper classes was only in degree better than that 
of the poorer. Coffee, sugar, tobacco, potatoes and other 
articles of common use by the poorest to-day were unkno^vn. 
Queen Elizabeth herself lived on beer and beef, and forks 
being unknown that haughty lady ate with her fingers, as did 
Shakespeare, Raleigh and Bacon. Articles of the commonest 
use and necessity in the dwellings of the poorest now, were 
then not to be obtained in the palaces of Kings. Carpets 
were absent in the proudest palaces and on the fresh stre^vn 
rushes beneath their tables princes and kings threw the bones 
and broken meats from their feasts. Religion was to most 
a gross superstition, law was a jargon and barbarous, and med- 
icine the vilest quackery. Just in proportion as the masses 



On Roanoke Island. 31 

have been educated, as freedom has been won by them, as 
their rights have been considered, the world has advanced 
in civilization and in material well being. 

Unlike the founding of Rome, where the seat of Empire 
abode by its cradle, no great cities arose here at Roanoke Is- 
land, at Jamestown nor at Plymouth. The new movement 
begun here was not for empire but for the people and it has 
advanced and spread in all directions. 

THE GKEAT DANOEE TO-DAY. 

In 1820 Daniel Webster delivered a memorable oration at 
the anniversary of the landing at Plymouth Rock. In that 
speech he prophesied that our free government could stand 
only so long as there was a tolerable equality in the division 
of property. What would he say could he stand here to-day 
and count over the names of those possessed of $20,000,000, 
of $50,000,000, of $100,000,000, even of more than $200,- 
000,000, and name over the great trusts and corporations who 
levy taxes and contributions at their own will, greater than 
those exacted for all the purposes of government ? He in- 
stances that when the great monasteries and other church cor- 
porations under the Tudors threatened English prosperity the 
eighth Henry confiscated their property (as has been done in 
our day by Mexico and other Latin countries) and re-distrib- 
uted their accumulations. He might have added that when 
the new commercial monopolies under his daughter Elizabeth 
bade fair to take the place of the suppressed ecclesiastical 
foundations in re-creating inequality, the Commons called 
on her to pause and that haughty, unbending sovereign had 
the common sense to save her throne by yielding. 

Mr. Webster also utilized the occasion to point to the fact 
that in France by her exemption of nobles and priests from 
taxation, property had gravitated into their hands till the 
wild orgy of revolution had re-transferred it to the people 
and he prophesied that the new law in that country which 
by restricting the right to will property had prevented its 
accumulation into a few hands would inevitably destroy the 
restored monarchy and rebuild the republic. His prophecy 
has come true. 



32 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

The great expounder of the constitution was right. Power 
goes with those who own the property of the country. When 
property is widely distributed and a fair share of the com- 
forts of life are equally in the reach of all, a country will re- 
main a republic. When property, by whatever agency, be- 
comes concentrated in a few hands, a change is impending. 
Either the few holders will bring in, as he stated, an army 
that will change the government to a monarchy, or revolution 
will force a redistribution as in England and France. That 
has been the lesson of history. 

In this day, of wider intelligence and general education, 
let us hope and believe that there is a third way, hitherto un- 
known in practice, and that by the operation of just and wiser 
laws enacted by the sovereignty of the people, a more just and 
equal distribution of wealth will follow and the enjoyment of 
material well being will be more generally diffused among the 
masses. All power is derived from and belongs to the people 
and should be used solely for their good. This is the funda- 
mental teaching of the institutions which begin their record 
from the landing of the Anglo-Saxon race on these shores, a 
landing which Avas first made at this spot. 

Had I the ability of Mr. ^Vebster, could I speak with his 
authority, I might point out as he did the great danger of the 
accumulation of wealth in a few hands, and might foresee and 
foretell the remedies which a great, a wise and an all-powerful 
people will apply. But I shall not follow in the path which 
he has trod, haud passihus equis. 

Let us not forget on this occasion that to this island belongs 
the distinguished honor of being -the birth-place of the first 
American girl. It is the Eden from which she sprung. She 
had no predecessor and remains without a model and without 
a rival. In that first Eden man was the first arrival and the 
garden was a failure. Here the girl was the first arrival and 
the boys have followed her ever since. Appropriately she 
bore the name of Dare, and daring, delightful, her successors 
have been ever since. We do well, were we to come here sole- 
ly to do honor to the memory of the first American girl, this 
finished, superlative product of her sex and of these later 
ages. 



THE RALEIGH CALEfiDAR. 



A Chronological Compendium of the Principal Events 
IN THE Life of Sir Walter Raleigh. 



Read by W. J. PEELE, of ItALEiGH, at the Fourth Annual Meeting 
OP the Literary and Historical Association, November 12, 1903. 



1552 — Walter Raleigh was born in the county of Devon, 
South England, at an old country house or manor, 
called "Hayes." He was the son of Walter Raleigh 
of Fardel and Katherine Gilbert, his wife. She was 
also, by her first husband the mother of the celebrated 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with whom Raleigh was asso- 
ciated in fitting out his earlier American expeditions. 

1566 — Entered College at Oxford, England, where he re- 
mained for three years, distinguished especially in 
oratory and philosophy. 

1569 — Went to France as a volunteer, fighting six years in 
that country for the liberties of the Huguenots nnder 
the famous Admiral Coligny, the first citizen of 
France and the first victim of the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew's Day. 

1575 — Returned to England. Studied and practiced naviga- 
tion and ship-building for several years, in which arts 
he became a master ; and in the meantime he made 
himself familiar with the West Indies and with the 
American coasts and waters. 

1578 — xlccompanied (according to some authorities) his half 
brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in an expedition to 
the St. Lawrence, in Xorth America. 

1580 — AVas commissioned captain of an hundred foot soldiers 
to fight the Irish rebels and their Spanish and Italian 
allies. His pay was only eighty cents a day — but in 
two years he was the most famous soldier in Ireland 
and attracted, by his xhIoy and success, the notice of 
Queen Elizabeth. 



50 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

1581 — AVas iiitrochiecd at tlie (Queen's court where he con- 
tinued to grow in favor until he became her most trust- 
ed adviser in military and naval affairs and the most 
active organizer of her forces against the Spanish. 

1583 — Fitted out, with the aid of Sir llnmphrev Gilbert, 
his half brotlier, an expedition to Xew Foundland. 
The Queen and the public service requiring his pres- 
ence in England, Gilbert was placed in command, 
and, after remaining on the desolate shores of that 
Islaud for thirty days, the expedition sailed for Eng- 
land, it lost on its return voyage its brave command- 
er in a great storm; but his last words, uttered from 
his sinking ship, are the best seaman's motto that has 
come down to us : ^'Be of good cheer, friends, we are 
as near heaven by sea as by land.'' 

1584 — March 25. Obtained charter from Queen Elizabeth 
under which the several settlements on Roanoke Is- 
land were made — being the first settlements of the 
English race in America, the beginning of the Amer- 
ican nation, and the seeds of Jamestown and Ply- 
mouth. 

The charter was the beginniug of English law in 
America. Emigrants to the lands that should be dis- 
covered and possessed under its authority were, by its 
provisions, guaranteed the rights and liberties they 
enjoyed in England. 

158-1 — Ai)ril 27. Dispatched an expedition of two ships un- 
der the command of Amidas and Barlowe with au- 
thority to explore and take possession of such lands, 
(not under the dominion of any Christian Prince) as 
the}^ should discover. 

1584 — July 4.* The expedition arrived off the coast of 
what is now known as IsTorth Carolina about one hun- 
dred and twenty miles south of an inlet not far from 
Roanoke Island. 
July 7. This inlet Avas entered and a landing effected 
on a part of the "Banks." The English took formal 
possession in the name of Elizabeth, the Queen, and 



* Dates from July 4, 1584. to December, inclusive, are approximate, 
having been obtained by estimiitioii. 



The Raleigh Calendar. 51 

Sir Walter Ealeigh the governor of the newly dis- 
covered land; and the Queen called it "Virginia," 
in honor of herself the virgin queen of England. 
The country embraced under this name extended 
from the 34th to the 45th degree North latitude — 
that is from the region of Cape Fear to that where 
Maine touches Canada on the Atlantic. 

July 10. They were first visited by the Indians who 
caught for them fish, which are still abundant in those 
waters. 

July 11. They made friends with Granganimeo, the 
brother of Wingina, the king of that country ; the near- 
est mainland of which the Indians called Dassa- 
monque-peak. 

July 16. They visited Roanoke Island, the cradle of 
American civilization, and the birth place of Virginia 
Dare the first child of English parents born in Amer- 
ica — nature's best protected spot on the American 
coast in which to have begun the hitherto untried ex- 
periment of English colonization ; for the Chesapeake 
had been explored and sketched by the Spaniards, but 
the Sound section of North Carolina, behind its fro\ATi- 
ing barriers of sand, was terra incognita. 

August. They sailed for England taking with them 
the two Indians, Manteo, the friend, and Wanchese, 
the enemy, of the white race. 

September 15. The expedition returned to England. 
Barlowe published an account of it which Raleigh 
used, with the other accounts brought back, to thrill 
the English people with the fever of emigrating to 
America — a fever which has never fallen from that 
day to this. 

December. Was knighted "Sir Walter Raleigh" by 
Queen Elizabeth in honor of his exploits and discov- 
eries. 
1585 — April 9. Raleigh's second expedition set out from 
Plymouth for the shores of "Virginia" (North Caro- 
lina) under the command of his cousin, the celebrated 
Sir Richard Grenville. It consisted of one hundred 
and eight colonists and five little ships, the largest 
being of one hundred and forty tons burden, the 



52 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

smallest, fifty. Among the other famous men in this 
expedition was Thomas Cavendish, Avho afterwards 
circumnavigated the globe, Hariot, the mathematician 
and historian, and Ealph Lane, the explorer of East- 
ern North Carolina, and the first governor of an Eng- 
lish Colony in America. 

June 20. The vessels came in sight of "Florida," the 
name by which some explorers called so much of the 
continent as is now embraced within the limits of the 
South Atlantic States, and under which the Span- 
ish claimed the land from Key West to Nova Scotia. 

June 23. Sailing up the coast to what is now North 
Carolina they barely escaped shipwreck on a "breach 
called the Cap of Feare." Probably cape Look-out. 

June 24. They came to anchor in a harbor where they 
"caught in one tide so much fish as would have yield- 
ed twenty pounds in London." 

June 26. They came to anchor at Wokoken, where one 
of the ships Avas wrecked in the attempt to run 
her over the bar of the inlet — the first recorded ship- 
wreck in the region of Hatteras. 

Sept. 3. ^Vas written the first letter by an English- 
man in America ; it was from the "New Fort in Vir- 
ginia" (Fort Ealeigh on Roanoke Island) and writ- 
ten by Ralph Lane to Richard Hackluyt, of London. 
Lane's colony remained in "Virginia" (North Caro- 
lina) one year wanting five days, but lost only four of 
its number, and these died from natural causes. 
1585-6- — During his ofcupation Lane explored the Albemarle 
and Pamlico Sounds and their principal tributaries. 
He ascended the Roanoke River, called by the In- 
dians, Monatoc, about as far as Weldon. He explored 
the Chowan, called by the Indians Chowanoke, as far 
as Wyanoke Ferry, at the junction of the Black Water 
and Nottoway Rivers. He went North as far as the 
Elizabeth River and reported to Raleigh its commod- 
ious harbors and the deep waters of the Chesapeake. 
Hariot wrote the best account of these expeditions 
and a description of the principal food plants and ani- 
mals which were found; and DeBry, in 1588 and in 
1590, published a book illustrated with maps, pic- 



The Raleigh Calendar, 53 

tures and drawings of the sonnd section of ^North 
Carolina, its inhabitants and its food plants and ani- 
mals. The originals of these illustrations were made 
by John White, a painter, whom Sir Walter Raleigh, 
with the special approval of the Queen, and at his 
own cost, sent to our shores for this purpose. The 
book is the joint product of White, Hariot and DeBry, 
and is the most definite and valuable early English 
publication that was ever published of any part of 
America. With Barlowe's and Lane's narratives, 
it is the main source of the history of the earliest 
efforts to colonize America by the English. 

1586 — June 19. Lane and his colony sailed for England 
in the fleet of Sir Erancis Drake. They had been 
doing well and were reasonably contented, but the 
sight of English ships and sailors made them home- 
sick and a terrible storm, such as still rage around Hat- 
teras, completed their demoralization. They landed 
in England, and Raleigh introduced from our shores 
the use of tobacco in England and the culture of pota- 
toes in Ireland. Shortly after the departure of the 
colonists, a ship loaded with provisions for them ar- 
rived at Wokoken, but soon sailed away for England. 
A fortnight later Sir Richard Grenville arrived and, 
finding none of Lane's colony, he left fifteen men on 
Roanoke Island to hold possession of the country until 
they could be relieved by a stronger force. ISTo white 
man ever beheld their faces again. The destruction 
of these men first proved to the Indians that the Eng- 
lish were not invulnerable and begun the long battle 
between the two races. 

1587 — May 8. Raleigh's Fourth expedition sailed from Ply- 
mouth for the shores of ITorth Carolina. It consisted 
of three vessels with their crews and one hundred and 
fifty colonists, of whom 91 men, 17 women and 9 chil- 
dren remained. The emigrants were under the com- 
mand of their governor, John White ; they were fated to 
become what is known in history as the "Lost Colony." 
July 16. They landed on that part of the "Banks" then 
known as the Island of Croatan lying to the Qouth 
of Cape Hatteras. 



54 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

July 22, They arrived at Hattorask Inlet and passed 
over to Roanoke Island where they learned the fate of 
the fifteen men left there by Grenville. 

August 13. Manteo was christened "Lord of Roanoke 
and Dasamonque-peak" by command of Sir Walter 
Raleigh. 

August 18. Was born Virginia Dare the first child of 
the English speaking race born in America. 

August — . Was born Harvie, the first American 

boy of that race. 

August 27. Governor John White sailed for England 
leaving his little colony to its unl^nown fate in the 
wilds of America. For three centuries the ingenuity 
of poets and historians has been exercised to discover 
its history, but the woods have not given up their se- 
cret. Perhaps the Red men of Croatan Island mi- 
grated inland to what is now Robeson Countv and 
carried the "Lost Colom'-" with them. There still 
resides in that region a tribe of Indians of mixed 
blood calling themselves by the mystic name of Croa- 
tan and there still exists among them a tradition that 
they came from a region called Roanoke. 
1588 — Early in the year, Raleigh fitted out an expedition to 
relieve White's colony and placed it under the com- 
mand of Sir Richard Grenville, but, on account of the 
war with Spain, it was not permitted to sail. 

April 22. Sent a second relief expedition consisting of 
two little ships loaded with provisions, but they were 
captured and stripped by pirates. 

England being now menaced by the great invasion 
from Spain, Raleigh assigned his principal interests 
in "Virginia" to Sir Thomas Smith, Richard Ilack- 
luyt and others, who afterwards became, under lids in- 
spiration, the chief promoters of the settlement at 
Jamestown in what is now the State of Virginia. 

Aug. The Spanish Armada was, under Raleigh's advice, 
attacked at sea and destroyed before it could effect 
the invasion of England. lie was the real author of 
this victory which was the turning point of England's 
greatness and Spain's decline. It was in the destruc- 
tion of the Armada that he reached the highest point 



The Ralp:igh Calendar. 55 

of his fortune and favor with the Queen. He was as 
great and brave as ever in the sea fight in the harbor 
of Cadiz, and, in his expedition up the Oronoko River 
was as zealous as ever for the extension of the Queen's 
empire in America, but he did not have the same in- 
fluence in the government nor receive the same recog- 
nition for his public services. 

1589 — Co-labored with his friend the poet Spencer and was 
the subject and inspiration of the best English poetry 
since Chaucer. He was Spencer's patron, introduced 
him to the Queen and procured him the leisure to write 
and the means to publish the poems which made their 
author famous. It was with Spencer that Raleigh for 
the next two years cultivated his natural fondness for 
literature which in the after years resulted in his 
"History of the World" and other literary works. 

1590 — March 20. The fifth expedition being the second un- 
der John White, sailed from Plymouth for Roanoke 
Island. 
August 15. The ships came to anchor at "ITattorask 
Inlet" which was then reckoned to be 3G degrees and 
20 minutes North latitude, and this reckoning locates 
this inlet Xorth of Roanoke Island. 
August lY. White went with a party of men to Fort 
Raleigh, but found it dismantled and deserted. The 
colony had vanished ; only the name "Croatoan" carved 
on a tree could give a clue to its new abode; and he, 
who "joyed" in this "certain token of their being safe" 
left the country without making an honest search for 
their recovery. He who had before deserted his 
colony, could now be satisfied with only a "token" of 
their safety. 
August IS. (The anniversary of the birth of Virginia 
Dare.) The expedition sailed away and the "Lost 
Colony" was "lost" in the deep solitudes of Xorth 
Carolina's forests — affordimi the first of tJie many 
lost cliapters of our history. 

1591 — November. Raleigh wrote an account of the fa:;ious 
sea fight between his ship the "Revenge" under the 
command of his cousin. Sir Richard Grenville, and a 
Spanish fleet of fifteen vessels. Tliis is one of his 



56 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

best pieces of prose literature, and the subject of it, 
England's bravest sea-fight— the Thermopylae of 
naval warfare. 
1592 — Married Elizabeth Throckmorten the Queen's maid of 
honor and forfeited the favor of the Queen who was 
herself reputed to be in love with him. He was de- 
barred from her Court for five years, but he did not 
cease to serve his country. 
1592 — July 28. Was imprisoned in the Tower of London 
on account of the anger or jealousy of Queen Eliza- 
beth. During his imprisonment an expedition he had 
fitted out captured the Spanish plate-ship the Madre 
de Dios with its cargo valued at two and a half mil- 
lions. 

Sept. 21. Was released from prison as the only man in 
England who could save the treasure of the great prize- 
ship from the plunder of his own countrymen. The 
Queen, as sovereigTi, took the lion's share of what he 
recovered. 
1594 — Sent a ship to get information concerning Guiana, in 
South America, which the Spanish had then lately an- 
nexed to their dominions and named the "Xew El 
Dorado." 
1595 — Feb'y 6. Sailed with an expedition to explore and 
take possession of Guiana. 

March 22. Anchored off the Island of Trinidad and 
shortly took possession of it as a base of operations 
from which to explore the Continent. This Island 
still belongs to Great Britain. 

April. Began his famous voyage up the Oronoko River 
which he explored for four hundred miles from its 
mouth. 

His expedition remained in Guiana, Trinidad, and 
the American waters for several months. He was re- 
ported sailing along the coast of Cuba in the month of 
July, and he landed in England sometime in October. 
He told the Spanish Governor of Trinidad that he was 
on his way to his settlement in ''Virginia" hut there 
is no record that he touched our. coast. 

December. Published an account of his explorations 



The Raleigh Calendar. 57 

which were speedily translated into Latin and German 
and circulated over Europe. 

1596- — Sent another expedition to Guiana which explored 
the South American coast as far south as the Amazon. 
Of this also he published an account, written, as was 
the other, in some of the best prose of the Elizabethan 
period ; in both he set forth to the English people the 
boundless wealth of America and the advantage and 
practicability of colonizing it. Of the vast territory 
in the region of the Oronoko and the Amazon which 
Raleigh urged England to seize, it now holds British 
Guiana — a country about one and half times the 
size of jSTorth Carolina. 
June 21. Led the English to victory in the great naval 
battle of Cadiz. This fight placed him on the pin- 
nacle of his fame as commander of warships, re-instat- 
ed him in the counsels of his Sovereign, and made 
Great Britain, for the first time, Mistress of the Seas. 

1597 — Sent another expedition to Guiana which obsequiously 
confirmed his own previous accounts. Ft returned 
without adding any new information, or materially 
advancing the policy of exploration and conquest 
which lay next to his heart. It was shrewdly sur- 
mised that the Spanish, failing in open warfare, were 
beginning to try the effect of gold upon his subordi- 
nates as well as his superiors in office. 
Sept. Stormed, at the head of a small force, the to"wn of 
Fayal in the Azores. It was his last l^attle and only 
added another spark to the envy of him which now in- 
creased with his fame. 

1602 — Nov. 4. Had his last interview with Queen Eliza- 
beth. 

1603 — Despatched two expeditions to America, the last of 
five which he sent at his own charge to search for the 
''lost colony/' 
March 30. The Queen died, and with her perished Ra- 
leigh's hopes of preferment and even of personal 
safety. He had spent his years of freedom in oppos- 
ing "the tyrannous ambition of Spain," and now his 
well-beloved England was to be governed by a mon- 
arch, James I, who had taken into his counsels the 



58 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

mercenaries of Spain — the conntry Avith wliieli Ra- 
leigh was even then urging war. He also wrote a 
letter denonncing Cecil, James' chief officer and ad- 
viser and one who was then privily receiving five 
thousand crowns a year from the Spanish Government. 

July 17. Was arrested on the charge of treasonable 
conspiracy with the Spanish Government. 

July 18. Was imprisoned in the Tower to await his trial 
which could not commence at once on account of the 
great plague which was then raging in London. 

]!*^ov. 17. He was brought to trial at AVinchestcr on the 
charge of high treason and convicted on the same day. 
The prosecution was conducted by the famous law 
writer, Coke. Raleigh plead his own cause, the laws 
of England not allowing him to have counsel for his 
defense ; nor was he confronted by the witnesses 
against him. The jury Avas packed, the testimony 
against him was perjured, the Court was subservient 
to the Crown, and at least one member of it, Cecil, 
was in the ]iay of the Spanish Government. Immed- 
iately after his conviction he was roundly abused from 
the bench by Chief Justice Popham, who presided over 
the Court, and then sentenced to death. But he was 
not then executed. Popular favor which he had sac- 
rificed some years before by acepting from Queen 
Elizabeth a monopoly of the tax on wines and liquors, 
was in a measure now restored to him on account of 
his persecution and misfortunes. England would 
not believe, though a court record had spoken the lie,, 
that the great enemy of Spain who had spoiled her by 
land and ruined her prestige on the seas, would betray 
into her power his own country. 

Dec. 10. His sentence was commuted to imprisonment. 
The man of action and exploit w^as now caged for his 
long confinement. He was stripped of his vast pos- 
sessions that they might enrich the faAvning favorites 
of the king. 
1604 — In prison he toHc up the study of physical sciences, 
especially the properties of medicinal herbs, and his 
cell became the resort of learned luen. He w^as visited 
by those concerned in his plans for colonizing America, 



The Raleigh Calendar. 59 

among them his friend Hariot who wrote the most 
intelligent account of Lane's expedition. Hacklnyt, 
patriot and historian, also the principal assignee of 
his franchises and interests in "Virginia," more than 
any other man caught the spirit of his enterprise and 
kept popular interest alive, until King James was 
forced hy public sentiment or tempted hy his own lust 
for fame and dominion to give his sanction to sending 
a colony to America. 

1606 — The most persistent efforts were made to set Raleigh 
at liberty, as his colonizing scheme again grew into 
favor. Queen Anne, of England, and the King of 
Denmark, and James' oldest son, Henry, used their 
utmost efforts in his behalf, but without avail. 

1606 — Apr. 22. James granted a new charter to the two 
companies who now proposed to undertake the coloni- 
zation of "Virginia." Among the four named corpor- 
ators of the Company which settled Jamestown stands 
the name of Raleigh Gilbert, doubtless a nephew of the 
great explorer, after ivJiom he ivas named. The treas- 
urer and general manager of this company was Sir 
Thomas Smith who had acted in the same capacity 
over the company hy which the settlements on RoanoJce 
Island ivere effected: Of the nineteen corporators of 
the "City of Raleigh" ivhich John White was enjoined 
to huild in 1587, ten were among those tvho subscribed 
to the J arnestown expedition. Raleigh in prison, the 
men he had inspired were still the chief promoters of 
American colonization. 

1607 — Jan. 1. The expedition under Captain Neivport 
hnown as the Jamestown expedition set sail for Roan- 
oke Island, hut was driven hy a storm into the Chesa- 
peake Bay, the shores of ivhich, twenty years before, 
Raleigh had designated for the settlement of the lost 
colony. This Chesapeake country ivas ivithin the 
limits of the territory granted him hy Queen Eliza- 
beth, and his grant ivas kept in force in tJie hands of 
his assignees until it was revoked hy James to pave the 
way for that monarch to possess himself of the fruits 
of Raleigh's labors and at the same time belittle so 
much of his fame as he could not appropriate. 



60 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

The people of the nineteen States and five parts of 
States embraced in the territory of Raleigh's "Vir- 
ginia" on this side of the Mississippi, owe to him their 
first debt of gratitude for the land they occupy. It is 
fitting that North Carolina, on whose soil his far- 
reaching experiments were made, should have taken 
the lead in erecting suitable memorials of his labors; 
but the other States, and Virginia especially, should 
be proud to follow the State which more than a cen- 
tury ago named its capital in his honor. 

1614 — Published his "History of the World" — a book com- 
mended by Cromwell and studied by Milton. Ra- 
leigh's royal persecutor objected to its circula- 
tion on the ground that its criticism of the an- 
cient Assyrian kings and of Henry VIIT of England 
might be construed into a reflection on James' own 
government. The notion that only a king was com- 
petent to sit in judgTiient on the conduct of a king, 
with the similar fallacies inherited from him by his 
son Charles I, cost the latter first his crown and then 
his head. 

1616 — March 19. AVas released from the Tower after an im- 
prisonment for more than twelve years, broken in 
health and no longer fitted to endure the activities 
whicli had made him famous, but in spirit he was as 
undaunted as over, and immediately began to fit out 
an expedition to America. 

His enthusiasm seemed to suit the purposes of the 
king who was In^ut on marrying his son Charles into 
the royal family of Spain and lioped that the fear of 
the great "sea-rover" might succeed where diplomacy 
had failed. 

1617 — June 12. Sailed out of Plymouth harbor on his last 
voyage for America. His expedition had been partly 
appointed by his enemies and not Avithont design: 
One ship deserted him before he was half across the 
Atlantic ; another was lost in a storm ; others still were 
hulks of disease commanded by disloyal captains and 
manned by men whom he called mere "scum." There 
is no better picture in English history than that of 
this old man, broken in health, racked by fever, long 



The Raleigh Calendar. 61 

separated from the kindred spirits of his dauntless 
manhood, steadily setting his face toward the sunset 
to make his last play for a continent which the vanity 
and treachery of his king cast away. 
Nov. 17. Anchored in the mouth of Cayenne River 
in the Island of Trinidad. On the mainland the 
Indians still remembered him though it was more than 
twenty years since his first visit, and flocked to the 
coast when they heard he had returned. 

Himself too feeble to lead, he dispatched his son 
and his old friend Captain Keymis, with a party of 
men, up the Oronoko to search for a mine the Spanish 
and the Indians had told him existed somewhere in 
that region. 
Dec. 31. The party were attacked by the Spanish near 
San Thome and in the fighting which followed the 
younger Raleigh was killed at the head of his com- 
mand. 
1618 — The Oronoko expedition returned and brought with it 
the certain tidings of its failure and disasters and also 
a letter which proved that the king of England had 
warned the Spanish Government of Raleigli's ap- 
proach. The great navigator saw now that he had 
been betrayed into a death trap. 

Reproached by him for his ill-success, Keymis com- 
mitted suicide. In a counsel of the remaining cap- 
tains, Raleigh proposed that they revictual the ships 
in Virginia and return to search for the mine, but two 
of them deserted, leaving him without sufficient force 
to contend with his daily increasing enemies. All 
his resources exhausted at last he sailed homeward 
by way of jSTew Foundland, but there is no record 
that he passed near enough to our shores to behold the 
land he had spent more than a million dollars to 
colonize as measured in the currency of these times. 
. June 21. Arrived at Plymouth in his flag-ship the 
Destiny and shortly thereafter was arrested. The 
king held out his execution as an inducement to the 
proposed marriage of his son Charles to the Spanish 
Infanta. The wily Spaniards were shrew^l enough 



62 Historical and Literary Activities in N, C. 

to have the execution come off first, and the marriage 
never come off at all. 

Oct. 15. The king of Spain declined James' offer to 
turn Raleigh over to him to be executed, but requested 
that the business be done by the English King, and 
as soon as possible. 

Oct. 28. Raleigh was condemned to die on the old 
charge of treasonable conspiracy with the govern- 
ment whose head was now demanding his death for the 
invasion of Spanish territory. 

Oct. 29. Was executed in the 67th year of his age, 
Sir Walter Raleigh, soldier, navigator, explorer, au- 
thor, poet, philosopher and patriot, the statesman who 
wrested our continent from Spain, the pioneer who 
first planted the seeds of law and liberty and Anglo- 
Saxon civilization in America, the hero-martyr of 
English colonization on our shores. 

His name and fame are indissolubly linked with Xorth 
Carolina. Pie made the first chapter of her history, which 
is also the first chapter of Anglo-American history, and one 
day the English speaking race on this continent, with the 
Carolinians in the lead, will call its brethren across the seas 
and go l)ack to the Island where it began its conquering 
march to do honor to the man who gave himself and all he 
had for its advancement. 



THE STATE'S HISTORICAL MUSEUN. 



By F. a. olds, Esq., Raleigh, N. C, 
Chairman of the Committee on Historical Mcseum. 



It is difficult to give a condensed account of the first year's 
wark in the collection of objects in the Plall of History in the 
State Museum, so numerous and so varied is the collection 
and so great the progress made in forming it. The grouping 
is as far as possible by periods in the State's history. Begin- 
ning with relics of the Indians, the collection follows the var- 
ious periods. The people of the state have been liberal in 
the way of gifts and loans. Out of the thousands of articles 
only a few can be referred to as most notable. Mrs. Mar- 
garet Devereux, of Kaleigh, lends the valuable documents of 
Governor Thomas Pollock, including grants by him, Gover- 
nors Eden and Everard and others, and the treaty between the 
whites ami the Tuscarora Indians. In the same section are 
ballast from the vessels of Amidas and Barlowe at Roanoke 
Island, a will dated 1692, Lawson's History of North Caro- 
lina, first edition; lease by the Lords Proprietors of the 
]^orth Carolina fisheries to Mr. Burrington, afterwards gov- 
ernor. In the Revolutionary section is the protest of the 
North Carolina Quakers against bearing arms, the auto- 
graphs of signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration, &c. The 
Swain collection of autograph letters, owned by the State, 
is of extreme value and contains the signatures of most of 
the great N"orth Carolinians of Revolutionary times. Bish- 
op Joseph Blount Cheshire is a valued contributor, his case 
containing the first book about ISTorth Carolina and the first 
map, printed in 1590; the "Yellow Jacket," the first book 
printed in North Carolina, New Bern, 1752 ; the only known 
copy of the journal of the State Convention at Hillsboro in 
1788, which rejected the Federal Constitution, and the jour- 
nal of the convention at Fayetteville in 1789 which ratified it, 
Mr. Charles E. Johnson, of Raleigh, gives the public an op- 
portunity to see a part of his extensive and valuable collec- 
tion, and the portraits, mainly etchings, of prominent colon 
ial North Carolinians attract much attention. He also ex- 



112 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

hibits a proclamation of Governor Josiah Martin, which bears 
the only known second seal of North Carolina ; a copy of the 
South Carolina Gazette of June, 1775, containing the Meck- 
lenburg Resolves of May 30th ; a rough draft of the opinion 
of Judge Iredell of the United States Supreme Court in the 
noted case of Chisholm against Georgia, which resulted in the 
eleventh amendment to the constitution of the United States. 
By the courtesy of Governor Aycock and Secretary of State 
Grimes a collection of autograph letters of the governors is 
being made, already containing letters and public documents 
bearing the signature of 40 governors. Kelics of I^athaniel 
Macon, secured from Mrs. J. T. TurnbuU and Julian S. 
Carr, are objects of much public interest. Judge Robert M. 
Douglas lends the original petition of the people of Mas- 
sachusetts to congress for the dissolution of the Union on ac- 
count of slavery. 

What may be termed the Confederate section is very rich 
in uniforms, swords and other relics of officers, including 
those of Generals Branch, James H. Lane, W. H. C. Whit- 
ing, Robert Ransom, Collett Leventhorpe, Matt W. Ransom, 
James Johnston Pettigrew, Bryan Grimes, Thomas F. Toon, 
as well as Col. William Lamb, the commander of Fort Fish- 
er ; Col. Cowand and Col. Henry K. Burg'^vyn, of the famous 
26th regiment. The collection of Confederate flags em- 
braces the ''Bethel" flag, that of the First N'orth Carolina 
volunteers; that of the 24th volunteers; the 14th ISTorth Caro- 
lina troops ; the battle flags of the 50th and the 58th regi- 
ments, the latter having been in all the great battles in the 
southwest, including Chickamauga. 

Li autographs of the Civil Wnr period the collection is not- 
able and there are also orders written on the battlefield to 
North Carolina officers l\v the greatest of the Confederate 
generals. A case, mainly contributed by Col. Thomas S. 
Kenan, is devoted to souvenirs of prison life. Tn other cases 
the literary and domestic life of the Confederacy is illus- 
trated in a very striking way. INFrs. Elias Carr has presented 
the only painting in existence of the North Carolina block- 
ade-runner, "Advance," while from Governor Aycock has 
been secured the silver service which was in the captain's 
cabin of that noted vessel. The collection of swords of all 



The Historical Museum. 113 

periods is a very fine one, some of these being in the cases 
devoted entirely to arms of all kinds, gronped by periods, 
while others are shown in connection with nniforms and 
other relics. 

A photograph of President Jefferson Davis and one of the 
last letters he ever wrote are objects of much general interest, 
as is also the candlestick which he used while secretary of 
war and during the campaign in Mexico, and also in the 
Confederacy, and which was in his tent when he was cap- 
tured near Washington, Ga. 

In the Mexican war period one of the most valued objects 
is the sword which was presented to Major JMontford S. 
Stokes by the officers and men of the First IsTorth Carolina 
Regiment, U. S. Volunteers. 

The Spanish American War period is well illustrated, a 
special case being devoted to uniforms and other relics of 
Ensign Worth Bagley, U. S. jSTavy; and another to relics of 
Lieut. William E. Shipp, IT. S. Army, who was killed at the 
storming of San Juan Hill, Santiago. The latter case also 
contains the first American flags borne through the city of 
Havana, these having been carried by the First Regiment, 
]^orth Carolina Infantry, North Carolina Volunteers. 

There are also all that remains of the noble marble statue 
of Washington by Canova, which was partially destroyed by 
the burning of the old ca]>itol, and a large engraving showing 
the statue as it stood in the rotunda of the old building; a 
framed collection of all the state currency issued durino- the 
Civil War and all the currency except four bills issued by 
the Confederate States. Cannon captured at Manila and 
Santiago illustrate the greatest sea fights of the war with 
Spain, while the smoke-stack and armor-plate of the North 
Carolina-l)uilt ram Albemarle show the remarkable work 
of that vessel. 

The public interest in the collection is constantly on the 
increase and not a day passes without additions. The Agri- 
cultural Department enters heartily into the spirit of the 
work and Commissioner Patterson gives his most cordial co- 
operation. 



THE ROANOl^E CELEBRATION AND THE 
RALEIGH AEnORIAL INSTITUTE. 



By W. J. PEELE, Esq., Kai.eigii, N. C. 



The idea of having a celebration on Roanoke Island to 
commemorate the historic events associated with Raleigh's 
efforts to colonize America, was suggested by Father Creecy 
as far back as 1884 — the ter-centennial of the landing of the 
Amidas and Barlowe expedition ; and Senator Vance intro- 
duced in Congress a resolution respecting it. At that time 
our people knew so little of their own history that the prop- 
osition fell still-born. 

Before and since the crucifixion it has been easy to under- 
rate an apparent failure. The apparent failure at Guilford 
Court House paved the way for Yorktown and Peace. Be- 
tween 1584 and 1590, while Raleigh was breaking Spain's 
sea power, he was winning from her a continent — claims to 
which he never ceased to assert even in prison. He was more 
the immediate inspiration of the Jamestown expedition 
than the monarch on the throne, but the continent had been 
already won l3y his bold strokes and held by his repeated 
expeditions until the crucial time had passed for its recovery 
to Spain. Its effectual colonization (Avhich Raleigh never 
ceased to urge, even when fortune failed) had now become 
only a question of time, ft was now safe for conservative 
and cowardly royalty to undertake it and leisurely appro- 
priate the fame of its real author. It has been left to North 
Carolina to tear away the veil which mean spirits have drawn 
around this collossal figure. She began more than a century 
ago by naming after him her capital, the beautiful "City of 
Oaks." In a few years a noble monument to his memory 
will stand in the center of one of her principal squares. 

At the great meeting of th-e State Literary and Historical 
Association held in Raleigh Oct. 22, 1901, Maj. Graham 
Daves, of ^STew Bern, (now deceased) offered the following 
resolution which he supported by an appropriate speech. 

Besolved, That a committee be appointed to provide for an 



The Roanoke Celebration. 115 

appropriate celebration on Roanoke Island of the landing- 
there in 1584 of the expedition of Amidas and Barlowe of 
the settlement in 1585-1587 of the hands of colonists sent 
ont by Sir Walter Raleigh. 

This resolution was seconded by Governor Chas. B. Aycock 
in his well known felicitous style and manner, inaugurating 
a movement which has been ever since growing in popular 
favor in the State and in the country at large. 

On the 24th of July, 1902 a large and representative 
body of citizens met at Manteo on Roanoke Island, and, as a 
preliminary to what will be one day done on a grand scale, 
proceeded to celebrate by patriotic speeches and appropriate 
songs the historic events which had transpired there on the 
island more than three centuries before. Among the great 
speeches on that occasion that of Chief Justice Clark is given 
in this volume, an inspiration for the many which are to fol- 
low. 

During the session of the Legislature of 1903 it was pro- 
posed to establish on Roanoke Island a memorial institution 
in which should be investigated and taught the arts and 
sciences which relate to obtaining wealth from the sea — such 
as ship-building, navigation, meteorology, fish culture, &c. 
The bill which embodied these ideas was introduced into the 
Legislature by Representative Thos. W. Blount, of Washing- 
ton County. It became a law the 9th day of March, 1903, 
and is published as chapter 408 Private Laws of that year. 
Besides Representative Blount, among those most etJicient 
in securing its passage should be mentioned Senators Don- 
nell Gilliam, of Edgecombe ; Mitchell, of Bertie ; and Joseph 
A. Spruill, of Tyrrell ; and Representatives Guion of Craven, 
Etheridge of Dare. 

The corporators are Thos. W. Blount, R. B. Etheridge, 
Theo. S. Meekins, B. G. Crisp, F. P. Gates, A. G. Sample, 
R. C. Evans, J. B. Jennett, tlohn W. Evans, W. H. Lucas, 
Joseph A. Spruill and C. W. Mitchell. The charter is 
unique in the history of charters. It grants powers amply 
sufficient for its purposes but provides that they cannot be 
exercised until an hundred subscribers to be selected by the 
corporators named shall subscribe a sum not less than ten 
thousand dollars to the capital stock of the Company; "it 



116 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

shall then be the duty of the Secretary of State to issue a 
charter artistically designed and ornamented." 

This preliminary fund, the amount of which is variously 
estimated at from ten to fifty thousand doHars, is to be sub- 
scribed first by representative I^orth Carolinians, preferably 
one from each county or Senatorial District, and then by 
representative citizens of the United States and from other 
countries. Those who subscribe to this fund will have their 
names and autogTaphs enrolled in the charter to be issued 
by the Governor and Secretary of State under the Great Seal. 
At the proper time a suitable reward will doubtless be offered 
for the best design for this instrument. 

Some wealthy gentlemen from the North have already in- 
dicated their purpose to subscribe as soon as the corporation 
is' organized and ready to take subscriptions. 

The Jamestown Exposition — a little more than one hun- 
dred miles North of Roanoke Island — is attracting the atten- 
tion of the world to the shores and waters of Virginia and 
North Carolina. Whether those in charge of that exposition 
will it or not, Sir Walter Raleigh is the central figure in the 
English colonization of America, and North Carolina should 
join Virginia in her efforts to make the Jamestown Celebra- 
tion worthy of the man and of the events he inspired. 

The success of that enterprise rightly taken advantage of 
by North Carolina would mean almost as much for one State 
as for the other. 

The following are some of the principal sections of the 
act of incorporation : 

Sec. 11. That the sum of fifty thousand dollars be and the 
same is hereby appropriated for the establishment and equip- 
ment of the said institution ; and the State Treasurer is here- 
by authorized and directed to pay this sum out of any fund 
in the treasury not otherwise appropriated upon the warrant 
of the board of directors of said company : Provided, That it 
shall first be made to appear to his satisfaction that the sum 
of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars has been realized 
from other sources, at least one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars of which shall have been appropriated to or made 
available for the buildings, equipment and endowment of the 
said institution of scientific investia'ation and instruction: 



The Roanoke Celebration. 117 

Provided further. That no part of the appropriation herein 
provided for shall be paid before the first day of January, 
1907 : Provided further. That it shall be unlawful for the 
board of directors of said company or the trustees of the said 
institution, or any of the authorities of either, to pledge the 
faith or credit of the said company or institution or to un- 
dertake to pledge the faith or credit of the State for any sum 
of money or other thing of value for the purposes of this act, 
or any purpose whatsoever ; and that any director or trustee 
or other officer of the institution who shall violate this pro- 
vision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and the State hereby 
notifies all persons that it will in no wise recognize the valid- 
ity of any pledge, contract or obligation so made. 

Sec. IV. That the principal office of said coroporation shall 
be at Washington, ]^. C, or Manteo, jS^. C, but the board 
of directors may change the principal office to some other 
place and may open branch offices at any place desired. 

Sec. V. That the said corporation shall have full power 
and authority to promote, organize and conduct on Roanoke 
Island and on such other adjacent places as the stock holders 
may select a celebration of the landing and settlement of Sir 
Walter Raleigh's colonies on Roanoke Island, the birth place 
of Virginia Dare, the first Anglo-American and the cradle 
of American civilization ; and to hold as a part of such cele- 
bration an exposition of Indian and colonial relics, imple- 
ments, w"ea]:)ons, utensils, curios, documents, maps, surveys 
and books illustrative of that period and such other objects 
of historical and educational value as will show the progress 
of our race on this continent and that the said corporation 
shall have full power and authority to do and perform all 
such acts and things not unlawful under the laws of this State 
as may be deemed necessary or proper for the successful pros- 
ecution of the above mentioned objects. 

Sec. VI. That the capital stock of said corporation shall 
be two hundred and fifty thousand dollars divided into fifty 
thousand shares of the par value of five dollars each, but the 
said corporation may begin Inisiness when ten thousand dol- 
lars shall have been subscribed to the capital stock and the 
charter shall have been issued by the Secretary of State as 
hereinafter provided. 



118 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

Sec. IX. That the company is authorized and empowered 
to establish on Eoanoke Island, on lauds which may be do- 
nated or purchased for the purpose, in commemoration of Sir 
Walter Ealeigh and his efforts to colonize America, an insti- 
tution for investigating and teaching useful arts and sciences, 
and especially those relating to ship building and navigation, 
meteorology, and to the culture and propogation of fish and 
oysters, and the protection and preservation of aquatic birds 
and animals. The instruction in shipbuilding and naviga- 
tion, and so far as may be, in the other special subjects above 
named, shall be industrial, and practically illustrated by 
examples and work personally conducted by the students in 
such a way that they shall learn to apply the principles and 
theories in which they are instructed and be made familiar 
with the manipulation necessary to that end. The other in- 
struction in the institution shall be as may be prescribed by 
the trustees hereinafter provided for. 

Sec. XII. That as soon as one hundred subscribers to be 
selected by the corporators named in section 2 of this act 
shall have subscribed a sum not less than Ten Thousand Dol- 
lars to the capital stock of the company it shall be the duty 
of the Secretary of State to issue to the company a charter 
artistically designed and ornamented. 

Sec. XV. That if the work is not begun on the business of 
said corporation within five years from the ratification of this 
act, then this charter shall become void and of no effect; 
otherwise so, it shall remain in full force and effect for the 
period of thirty years from the date of its ratification. 

The Island itself — the fulcrum by which Raleigh raised 
a continent into English possession — is interesting without 
its history and associations. Thirteen miles long — a mile 
for each of the colonies of Raleigh's ''Virginia" — and three 
in breadth, this cradle of the Anglo-American race, like the 
ark in the bulrushes, lies embowered in evergreens amid the 
gently heaving waters of four Sounds — Albemarle, Pamlico, 
Roanoke and Croatan. A little to the East of it, and be- 
tween it and the stormy Atlantic, is ridged the great barrier 
of sand, all knotted like a huge serpent, and stretching itself 
in the sheen of its yellow beauty for two hundred miles be- 
tween the ocean and the Soimds. 

In the little land-locked sea, the best protected waters on 



The Roanoke Celebration. 119 

the American coast, in the safety and the privacy of great 
dame JSTatiire was prepared the birth place of the nation, 
which has become the greatest of her children. After more 
than three centuries a feeling akin to home-sickness stirs 
the breasts of Americans and they are turning their longing 
eyes toward the place of the nation's nativity. 

About the year 1<S35 the romantic historian Jo. Seawell 
Jones visited the Island while it was yet covered with the 
primeval forests and vine, much as it was in July, 1584, 
when the sight of it first gladdened the hearts of Amidas and 
jBarlowe. Jones says: "If it should ever be the lot of the 
reader to stroll under the vintage shades of Roanoke — made 
impervious to the rays of the sun by the rich foliage and the 
clustering grapes above him — he will not venture to discredit 
the highly wrought sketches of Hariot nor mock the humble 
enthusiasm of the volume now before him." 

"jN^ature seems to have exerted herself to adorn it as the 
Eden of the 'New World. The richest garniture of flowers, 
and the sweetest minstrelsy of birds, are there. In travers- 
ing the northern section of the island, in the spring time of 
the year, flowers and sweet scented herbs, in the wildest 
luxuriance, are strewn along your winding way, welcoming 
you with their fragrance to their cherished isle. The wild 
rose bush, which at times springs up into nurseries of one 
hundred yards in extent, "blooms blushing" to the song of the 
thousand birds that are basking in her bowers." 

Sometimes the great Lover and Author of colors paints a 
sunset of green and gold on Sound and ocean. Jones seems 
to have witnessed one of these sunsets from the brow of a 
sandhill during his visit, and thus describes it: 

"To the westward of the Island, the waters of the Albe- 
marle crept sluggishly along; and in the winding current of 
the Swash several vessels stood, with outspread but motionless 
wings. Away down to the south, the Pamlico spread itself 
out, like an ocean of molten gold, gleaming along the banks 
of Chickamacomico and Hatteras; and, contrasted with 
this, were the dark waters which separate Roanoke from the 
sea-beach, and which were now shaded from the tints r{ the 
sunset by the whole extent of the island." 

"A sea of glory streamed along the narrow ridge — dividing 



120 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

the inland waters from the ocean ; and beyond this the bound- 
less Atlantic heaved her chafed bosom of sapphire and gold 
against the base of yon stormy cape. I enjoyed and lived in 
that sunset twilight hour. I thought of the glorious destiny 
of the land on which I trod — as glorious as the waters and the 
earth then around me. I thought of the genius and the death 
of Raleigh — of the heroic devotedness of Grenville — of the 
gallantry of Cavendish and Drake — of the learning of Hariot 
— of the nobleness of Manteo, the Lord of Roanoke — of the 
adventurous expedition of Sir Ralph Lane up the river Mora- 
tock — of the savage array of the bloodthirsty Wingina — of 
the melancholy fate of the last of the Raleigh colonies — of 
Virginia Uare the first Anglo-American — of the agony of 
her mother — and then I thought of those exquisite lines of 
Byron, 

"Shrine of the mighty, can it be 
Tiiat this is all remains of thee?" 

In 1901 Col. F. A. Olds visited the Island and told a part 
of what he saw as follows : 

"The centre of attraction is Fort Raleigh. Along roads 
of white sand, beneath pines with which the bright green of 
the holly is mingled, the way lies to the fort. To the right, 
after going a little distance, rise in long lines the sand dunes, 
vast mounds, the creation and sport of the winds. Looking 
from the top of these, one sees to the eastward the sea, green 
and heaving, and the curl of its breakers, and borne by the 
soft wind comes the thunder of the surf, almost like an echo. 
At ones feet lies the Sound, yellow as gold, three miles in 
width, and so shallow that nearly the entire distance can be 
Headed. Looking westward the island seems at one's feet." 

"Descending from the height, the ride is resumed. Past 
houses, some modern, others gray with age, the road winds. 
Presently there appears a guiding hand, bearing the words 
"Fort Raleigh." It points eastward, and there, 100 yards 
away is the fort." 

"Surrounded by a fence of pine rails, with a rustic gate- 
way of little upright poles, is the ruin. In its center stands 
a severely simple marble mommient, and hnv posts of granite, 
a foot high, mark the venerable eartliAvork. The outlines are 
perfectly ]ilain. The greatest height of the parapet above 



The Roanoke Celebration. 121 

the ditch is some two feet. Ahnost an acre is enclosed by 
the fence, and the fort covers little more than a fourth of this 
area. The colonist's log huts surrounded the fort, which was 
their refuge. Within the limits of the enclosure are live-oak, 
pine, holly, dogwood, sassafras, water-oak and cherry trees. 
Up one live-oak clambers a grape vine and at its foot is an 
English ivy. The monument, or memorial stone faces west- 
ward and bears this inscription : 

''On this site in July-August, 1585, colonists sent out by 
Sir Walter Ealeigh built a fort called by them 'The new 
fort in Virginia.' These colonists were the first settlers of 
the English race in America. They returned to England in 
July 1586 with Sir Francis Drake. 

"I^ear this place was born, on the 18th day of August, 
1587, Virginia, the first child of English parents born in 
America, Daughter of Ananias Dare and Eleanor White, 
his wife, members of another band of colonists sent out by 
Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587. On Sunday August 20, 1587, 
Virginia Dare was baptized. Manteo, the friendly chief of 
the Hatteras Indians had been baptized on the Sunday pre- 
vious. These baptisms were the first knoAvn celebrations of 
the sacrament in the territories of the thirteen original 
States." 

''The land has never been in cultivation, and to this fact is 
due the marvellous preservation of the ancient earthwork. 
In America 316 years seem a very great lapse of time, yet so 
old is this little earthwork, whicli, thanks to the care of the 
"Roanoke Colony Memorial Association," is at last marked. 
It is evident that the fort was made of two rows of upright 
palisades, or logs, betAveen which was earth. The palisades 
soon decayed, but the earth retains its outline perfectly." 

Prof. Chas. R. Taylor, a resident of the Island and prin- 
cipal of the High School at Wanchese, writes in 1902 : 

"Much of the beautiful scenery of that age has passed 
away. To the east lies a long and well-nigh barren strip of 
sand that marks the bounds of the ocean. Along the coast 
at nearly regular intervals, are the life-saving stations, with 
here and there a village inhabited by oysternlen and fisher- 
men, and where many life-savers have their homes. All 
these banks, within the memory of their old men, were cov- 
ered, wnth scarcely a break, with a dense forest. These have 



122 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 

all been swallowed up by small mountains of moving sand. 
Roanoke Island was heavily timbered." 

Another change that has taken place within the memory of 
the fathers of this generation is that the island is further 
from the mainland. The marsh from Croatan and that from 
the south end of Roanoke Island nearly met, only a narrow 
creek separating them. This was when the waters of the 
Albemarle sought the ocean by Nag's Head Inlet. A storm 
closed this. These waters then sought to pass by way of an 
inlet south of Roanoke Island. Their force removed the 
peaty marsh and opened the wide waterway as it now is. 

For more than two centuries this section was sparsely set- 
tled. Only twenty-five years ago there were no more than 
fi.ve or six hundred inhabitants on this island. Their only 
connection with the outside world was by sailing vessels. 
They were difficult of access, and made little improve- 
ment. ***** 

"Dare County was formed after our Civil War, out of 
parts of Hyde, Tyrrell and Currituck Counties. This may 
be deemed the first marked step of advancement. Its com- 
munities, separated by water, and hitherto attending different 
Courts, and having different political associations, were now 
brought together to build up their own section." 

"The people are now united as a county, with their court- 
house finely located, and accessible from every quarter. The 
wealth of fish and fowl, which the Heavenly Father has 
placed in their waters, is now fully appreciated, and is simply 
enormous. They now have excellent steamboat communi- 
cation with the outside world. The people have built them- 
selves homes that would be creditable to any rural section of 
the State. Besides the schools in the various parts of the 
county, they have built two commodious academies on Roan- 
oke Island — one at Manteo and the other at Wanchese. These 
are conducted by graduates of leading colleges in Virginia 
and jSTorth Carolina. There are, moreover, as many young 
men and women attending schools of high grade from this 
island as from any place of the same area in the State, cities 
excepted. ]^or is this all. Their churches are nowhere sur- 
passed in any country place known to the writer. These 
people fear God and honor Him." 



The Roanoke Celebration. 123 

The island contains a population of about eighteen hun- 
dred people engaged for the most part in fishing and agricul- 
ture. This number is considerably swelled by visitors at cer- 
tain seasons. 

From the light house on Bodie's Island, a few miles to the 
south of Roanoke, is spread out one of the most interesting 
panoramas on the American coast. The historic Island, the 
Banks, where the first landing was made, the Sounds with 
their deep shaded shores, and the limitless expanse of the 
ocean conspire together to make a picture that shall not be 
soon forgot. 

"Carolina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her; 
While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her." 



MONUMENT TO SIR WALTER RALEIQH. 



By Gen. J. S. CARR, Durham, N. C. 



At the great meeting of the State Literary and Historical 
Association held in our State Capitol during the Fair (Oct.), 
190^, I had the honor to propose the erection of a statue to 
Sir Walter Raleigh. 

The Association, the audience, and apparently also the 
people at large, responded enthusiastically to the proposition. 
The requisite funds would have been raised in a short while 
if a canvass had been then made ; but, as it was rightly con- 
sidered, the monument was the least part of the project. 
The educational value of raising a fund to erect it as far as 
may be practicable by penny collections from the school chil- 
dren, is not easy to overestimate. 

But there is something better even than education in his- 
tory — it is the growing fellowship of l^orth Carolinians 
wherever they are found — and where indeed are they not 
found. They are forming clubs and associations not only 
throughout this State but in every State in which they reside. 
They are all united by the ties of filial affection which bind 
them to their mother and they will readily respond to any call 
by which she may seek to bring her children together. 

Our sister State, Virginia, has undertaken that vast enter- 
prise. The Jamestown Celebration, which is drawing all 
Virginians together from every land and clime. Many tens 
of thousands of our own people from the other States into 
which they haA^e gone, returning from the Jamestown celebra- 
tion, will be only too glad to join us in doing honor to the man 
whose untiring efforts to colonize America on the shores of 
Xorth Carolina made successful colonization i)ossible. 

It is the purpose of those who have tlie erection of this 
monument at heart to bring it to ])ass during the Virginia 
Exposition so that the real colonizer of America may not be 
forgotten amid the multitude of lesser lights. 

It is not expected that the fund requisite for so great an 
undertaking will be raised by penny collections from the 



Monument to Sir Walter Raleigh. 125 

school children, but the effect wherever these collections have 
been taken up has been to create a healthful interest in the 
source of our history among those who are hastening to take 
our places. If some well-disposed citizen in each county 
where the educational authorities fail, will see to it that each 
child in his county has an opportunity to give his penny, or 
in default of this will see that enough pennies are given to 
represent each child of school-age, it will make the erection 
of the monument far easier and will immeasurably increase 
the interest in the movement. 



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